Chinese Space Program

China's rocketry program began in the 1950s. The first Chinese
satellite,
Dongfanghong-1 (The East is Red)
was launched into orbit in 1970.
China became the fifth country to launch a satellite into space.
The manned space program was inaugurated in 1992
(Project 921). The first Chinese
Astronaut (Taikonaut) was Yang Liwei. He was launched on Shenzhou 5 on
October. 15, 2003. China was the third nation capable of
putting a human in space on its own, after Soviets and the U.S. One
of the goals of China's manned space program is to build a permanent space station.

Chinese Spacecraft:

Shenzhou:
Chinese Spacecraft is
launched on a Long March 2F booster from Jiuquan.

There are three major space launch bases in China: Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang.

Shenzhou-10 spaceships will be launched in
2012. They may conduct rendezvous docking in orbit by 2012.

Space Station

* Tiangong 1, which means 'Heavenly Palace' in
Chinese, is a Chinese module for a space station in development. The launch of
this laboratory module is planned for 2011/2012. The module will be an 8.5 ton
and it is planned that Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 will dock with it
during its two year lifespan. It is part of Project 921-2.

* On 26 April 2011 Chinese authorities unveiled
plans to build a space station and develop a cargo spaceship as part of its
manned space program. The Space Station will weigh 60-ton. This is smaller
compared to the International Space Station (419 tons: 1998-present) and
Russia's Mir Space Station (137 tons: 1986 - 2001)

* Tiangong 2 will be the second space lab and
maybe be launched in 2013. It will be larger than Tiangong 1. Tiangong 3
maybe launched in 2015.